Well, kids, I survived!

Turtle Crawl Sprint Triathlon:

First, I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to pick up a friend and drive an hour to Jekyll Island. Very Disneyish, except I had to be reasonably alert since I couldn't hop on a bus!

Uneventful drive. We found the place with no problems (probably because for once I was really early!) Picked up our race stuff and handled transition relatively well. I would much rather do it the day before, but I still managed to get all my stickers and numbers in the right places. They had a tri-tat system- you put temporary tattoos on for your numbers. Great in theory, but took too long. Being the needy type that I am, I grabbed a volunteer to help me with mine. We both messed up, so I had tattoos and regular Sharpie markings. Tons of people reversed their numbers, scratched them out, and wrote them in marker, which I found amusing.

What I did not find amusing?? They had already lengthened the bike to 14.4 miles because of construction, and then they added 50 yards to the swim for 650 total. (Thankfully, I wasn't doing the Olympic!)

The swim:

So you might have gathered that I was nervous about the swim... we walked for an eternity down the beach. A bunch of people from our class were together, sharing the apprehension. Our coach told us to get in the water. It was really windy and there was a strong current. He said it would be hard to get to the first buoy, but then the current would drag us in to the finish. (You went out to a buoy, hung a left and went straight until turning for the finish). It was a timed start. We entered in pairs within a couple of seconds of other people.

Getting to the first buoy was sooo hard. I heard some people screaming for help behind me. I was conveniently breast stroking (also known as treading water) because I'd swallowed a ton of salt water already, so I could see the lifeguard on her surfboard- she was paddling over and yelling something like "I can't get there yet." This did not encourage me... The current kept shifting- I didn't know that at the time, I just knew that my coach was a big liar! I did a lot of freestyle once I calmed down and changed up my stroke to deal with the fact that I was breathing on the side with the waves. It still took forever to reach the buoys. I was swum over a couple of times and a guy knocked one side of my goggles- nothing like some salt in the contacts! Anyway, after about 30 minutes of sheer terror, I was finally out of the water. (Our coach later said it was the most challenging open water swim he'd done in 15 years).

The bike:

It's a long way to transition, up a boardwalk and through sand. I was fine with that, cause I was out of the water! I put on my shoes without socks, grabbed my helmet, and headed to the mounting area. I got going without any real problems. Now here's the thing with my bike- I've ridden a lot on a trainer, and I've ridden a lot slowly outside. So I had no idea how fast I should be going. I was averaging about 17-19 mph (I did take my Garmin). I passed a bunch of people (cause if I didn't make it clear, after the swim, pretty much everyone was in front of me). I realized I was at about mile 4 and about to pass a guy with 20 on his leg. And I thought to myself, perhaps I'm not much stronger than a 20 year old boy and I should stick with him... So that's what I did. (I eventually passed the 20 year old at the end of the run, which really pleased me. ) The bike was great, except for the last 3 miles in a headwind. But again, I wasn't in the ocean, so I was happy.

The run:

Dumped the bike and helmet. Grabbed the hat and race belt. Drank some water, since I'm still too nervous to grab my bottle on the bike. Couldn't think of anything else to do, so I started the run. Here was my happiest moment- even though I only did one brick in training, the run felt fine. Legs weren't heavy (so should I have pushed more on the bike after all?) The course was a mess because of more construction. It was an out and back, so I saw some people from my class both ways which was a nice distraction. My Garmin said the course was a little short and that I averaged about an 8:17 (hard to tell since I was not the best at turning it on/off at just the right spots). I was extremely pleased that I wasn't running much slower than just a regular 5k without all that near drowning and biking stuff first! I saw our coach before the finish- he yelled about a final kick. Miracle of miracles, I was able to pull out a little sprint to the finish. I never can do that! The run ended up being a 24:42, so maybe I started my Garmin early? Hey- tied my 5k PR with all that drowning/biking before it!

So that was it. They had lots of food and goodies afterwards. We sat around a bit and cheered for people and talked about the race (mostly sharing swim horror stories). Got a sweet albeit ridiculously bright t-shirt. The official results have me at 1:51:xx and 4th in my AG. I'm dying to see the splits so I can tell just how horrible I am at swimming!

There's another sprint tri in October at the same place. The swim is only 400 yards. I'm torn between never, ever wanting to see the ocean again and wanting to redeem myself. In the meantime, there may be a local duathlon in August- now that I can work with!

OK- final results. For my age group: 10/16 in the swim, 7/16 on the bike, 1/16 on the run. I guess I know where I'm most comfortable!

Here I am with my friend at the finish. I'm the Goofy one in the pink hat.

Tour de Torture

As always, I'm posting late.

Anyway, Tour de Torture-- 3 runs, 1 weekend.

The first run is a Friday at 6:00 p.m. It's four miles through my neighborhood. Now I know these hills, and I'm not overly pleased. Still, I think I may be able to use some strategy based on knowledge of the course. Yeah, so I go out too fast. I'm cocky, I'm ready to go. I run up the horrible street with the horrible hills too fast. I can usually maintain about a 9 minute pace if I'm pushing it on this street- so I go for about an 8 minute pace. Predictably, I'm not just wheezing, I almost sound like I'm crying. So I chat with the older, wiser runners who pass me and just try to get moving again. I really don't like night runs. Too many chances to ruin yourself during the day! I finished somewhere around 34 minutes and then went home to say bye to Ted who was leaving for 3 days... as in leaving me alone in charge of 3 kids... with two races to go.

Saturday morning is a 5k. With the exception of having my babysitter show up at 7:59 for a race starting at 8:00, it went well. (They started a bit late, but I was hustling up to the start strapping on my race belt as the horn blew!) I forgot my Garmin, which may have helped. Same basic route, but cut out some of the hills. I don't know if it was because it was morning so I hadn't sabotaged myself yet or because I didn't have the Garmin pressure, but I felt better. The clock said 26:xx but someone told me he thought the course was long. Again, Garminless, so no clue.

Saturday afternoon was a 1 mile run. Never done a 1 mile run. Not worth the effort in my opinion. You go out blazing, can barely breathe, never get time to settle down, and then it's over and you have the whole "do I really have to take another shower?" thing going through your head. The clock said 8 something, but my Garmin said 7:5x. Whatever. The whole Tour de Torture concept was getting a bit, shall we say, tortorous...

It took awhile for them to tally the results. I played with my phone.



Best part of all?!

Check it out:



Harry always wants to know if I "won" my race. He totally doesn't get the concept of everyone winning for finishing the distance. Finally, I was able to announce that "YES! I WON." My mom was in town watching the kids for me, so it was fun to show off my medal.

I should add that this was a perfect storm- I ran reasonably fast, but tons of the usual runners who could run circles around me weren't at all the races due to a bike race on Saturday morning. Still...

Oh, and Harry promptly knocked the head off the running girl, but I was able to wedge it back on. Typical.

Spring

Finally, we have decent weather.

I decided I'd do a slow recovery run today at lunch. I started at a good pace, but then found my time creeping faster. To keep myself slow, I started taking pictures on the run. I finished with a little over 5 miles... with no sign of my usual post half-marathon injuries. Let me praise the Newtons again!



Slowed down my pace nicely.



You can see I don't have a whole lot of traffic concerns on my routes. Is the second street not a beautiful sight? It was just re-paved a couple of weeks ago- tedious at the time, but really nice now.



I'm actually more afraid of one of these than cars.

Princess Half Marathon 2010

The Princess Half Marathon was yesterday! I can't believe I'm updating so quickly...

GOAL

Try to finish the half with a decent time. Finished in 2:21:xx last year. Think I can beat it.

SUPER SECRET AND QUITE POSSIBLY TOTALLY UNREALISTIC GOAL

Hmmm... Try to break 2 hours based on results from Dolphin Days run.

Positives: My time at the Dolphin Days was reasonably fast, I'm not injured.

Negatives: Everything else.

More specifically: longest long run was 10 miles, wearing 2 week old shoes that require different running style (Newtons), wearing new clothes, trying to set a PR at Disney after a day at the parks, potentially eating tons of bad food at the parks, the picture taking temptation on the course, the time... as in have to get there by about 4 a.m.

Friday: THE EXPO

We check in at the hotel and then Emma, Milo and I drive to the Expo. I remembered the stroller this year, but you have to leave it outside the building. Really dumb. I get that it's crowded, but there are tons of moms dragging children... if you're dragging children, you're not dragging merchandise and you're on the verge of giving up and getting out of the building as quickly as you can. Case in point: I looked at the stuff for sale and left with a pin and a keychain. And the only reason that even happened was that there wasn't a line at the checkout.

I printed my waiver ahead of time and found my number was 14. I thought that was pretty funny until I went to get my packet and saw "Elite" on the bib corner. Tempting, but who wants to be humiliated that quickly in a race? I had to drag the baby over to Runner Relations, and then drag him back to another window to get my proper bib. Then it was back the other way to pick up the t-shirts/goody bag. The t-shirts were mis-labeled, so we had to guess on the sizes. Tedious. I had a really nice volunteer but the baby was getting very, very heavy.

I can't believe I was so frazzled that I didn't have Emma take a picture of me with an elite bib.

SATURDAY: the Parks

Same routine as always. Hit the Magic Kingdom bright and early.



We ride Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, Buzz, the race cars, the people mover thingy, etc. Emma and Ted went on Space Mountain while Harry, Miles and I shared ice cream sundaes (which we never confessed).

Harry driving!

Everybody liked the rides including the baby. A bird stole a piece of popcorn right out of Milo's hand. He offered it more. Clueless! Harry found the birds disturbing, and rightly so.





We grabbed lunch at our usual Pecos Bills. It's never as good as we think it will be, but it's reasonably easy and part of our traditions now.

Harry, Emma and Ted got in line for Splash Mountain, but of course, it went down for repairs. Probably for the best. It was about noon, and the wait was 5 minutes. I'm guessing people were getting wet and really cold.

Harry wanted to hit Buzz again, so back we went. Ted wanted to do the Carousel of Progress, but all I see in that ride is a confined space for an eternity with no easy opportunity to get out with an angry baby. The baby and I passed. We wandered towards the Castle and discovered the High School Musical parade was meandering around. We danced for a bit to Metro Station's "Shake Shake Shake" which had been edited considerably (which I know because it's on my running playlist- the humiliation!)

Walkie-talkie fun!



We decided since we only had the one day at the parks, we'd head to Epcot and hope the boys could make it without a nap. Yeah, good plan.

All was well at Epcot in the beginning. Harry was big on the Nemo ride- here I'm taking a picture of Ted taking a flip video of Harry- no wonder he thinks he's a rock star.



The boys were starting to fray at the edges a bit...

Self-explanatory.




It was the Flower and Garden Festival. I barely noticed this year, but probably because of the distractions provided by my peeps.







Then it got cold, people got sort of hungry in a "I've snacked all day but not had a real meal" kind of way. Irritation set in. It was still fun because I demand fun at Disney, but Epcot with two irrational creatures is not the best (and then there were the boys to consider. LOL)



A happy moment.

The boys did fall asleep briefly, but it didn't help much. Back to the hotel...

Really, back to the hotel worked for me. It was 8:00 p.m. and I had to get up at 3:00 a.m. I still hadn't organized my pile of stuff, and I was worried about the weather.

SUNDAY: The Race!!!

My iPhone alarm goes off. Wow. No matter how organized you get the night before, it's still hard to get ready that early. I drank a Diet Dr. Pepper, put on all my layers, grabbed a bag full of extra water/gels/towel/etc. to toss at the start and hit the road. Oddly, as I was leaving the hotel at 3:45 a.m., pizza guys were making a delivery. I get on I-4 and head towards Epcot. As usual, I keep an eye on the signs but basically follow the cars in front of me. I'm pretty sure the SUVs, minivans, and cabs out and about at this hour are chock full of princesses.

I'm parked by 4:10 a.m. Now that was too easy. We're supposed to be in the corrals at 5:30 a.m. What to do in the meantime? I fiddle with my stuff in the car- take some stuff out of my bag and pretty much put it all back in. I start walking to the staging area (where they herd everyone before they open the corrals). I turn around after about 100 yards to retrieve any clothing I have in the car. The pink jacket I decided I wanted to leave in the car so I didn't end up donating it? Yep, it can go to charity. I now have on a short sleeve shirt, arm warmers, a lightweight vest, my running skirt, baggy maroon pants, my hat, my Newtons, a running jacket and a purple sweatshirt, and my race belt. I'm like a giant fluffy plum. I'm carrying my crown in my bag cause I want to preserve some dignity.

I walk to the staging area. There's the pre-requisite DJ playing 80s music. Then he launches into the "Cupid Shuffle" and before my eyes something like 200 women start line dancing. It was at exactly that moment that I decided I was excited to be there. Just surreal.

I hit the port-a-potty lines, and start the long walk to the corrals. There are two women from Michigan near me- they're in t-shirts and shorts. They said they were cold. You think?! It was in the low 40s. I had draped my Ariel towel over my neck- I took pity on them and handed it over. They said it was an answer to a prayer- I was hoping the running gods would approve. A lot of people were really not dressed for the weather- what was up with that?!

I get in Corral A. Yep, A, as in right behind the Elites.



I'm by the stage with the announcers. They have a camera crew that keeps interviewing people around me. Very strange to watch the interview next to me and hear it slightly delayed on the video screens! With about a half hour to go, I pop a gel and drink some water. I'm still killing time. Damn if more people aren't line dancing- Cupid Shuffle again, YMCA, etc.





I decide it's time to break out the crown... hello, wardrobe malfunction! My gloves stick to the velcro holding my crown together and the velcro tears out of the crown. Luckily I had taped my pace chart on my phone with duct tape- I ripped some off and did a hasty repair. Who knew?! And now I think that the running gods must be with me- crown repairs at the start line. Throw whatever you want at me, Princess Half, I'm ready!

Ten minutes to the start: I take off the pants. Not easy with shoes, and I had a sudden irrational fear that I'd be naked from the waist down, but it worked. Then the sweatshirt. It is the coldest of colds.

The Fairy Godmother appears. She cracks some princess jokes and then does a little jig to the Cotton Eyed Joe.


As Harry would say, I didn't see that one coming!

The countdown from 5.... fireworks this year! And we are off.



Mile 1: 9:27

Crowded. Cold. That's about it.

Mile 2: 8:42

Trying to make up time. Still cold.

Mile 3: 9:05

First character picture opportunity. It's the Princes/Heroes. I give the guy my camera, but something to do with the darkness outside and the brightness of the float pushed my camera over the edge. After ages of messing with it, the guy takes a video of me.



Mile 4: 8:53

Little panicky about time goal. Dump the jacket. Pass the Ticket and Transportation Center somewhere around here. Lots of spectators giving high fives. I go out of my way to high five everyone. For some reason, this is crazy fun. A spectator yells that he likes my outfit and another tells me to just keep smiling. What nice spectators to be out in this freezing cold humoring a bunch of runners!



Mile 5: 8:43

Getting back on track. I can't remember if Contemporary Hill was here or later- oh well. I wrap my headphones around my iPhone- don't need music in the upcoming Magic Kingdom!



Mile 6: 9:56

Uh oh. Magic Kingdom. I'm doing great, blazing down Main Street. I'm taking blurry pictures and moving on... and then Pluto is by Tomorrowland and there's only one person in line.





And then we head past the Pooh Ride and Dumbo... then right by the Carousel, I spot a line of Princesses and other random characters. Such a short line, how can I not stop?



Oh, jeez, this is ridiculous, but it's Mickey and Minnie!



And the trumpet guys...



And then it's through the Castle. Got to position yourself just right in hopes of getting a photo. And then just in case, have to pose for one in front of the Castle!

OK, I'm moving again. Time to get under control. I'm thinking about how Becky should be there to reign me in!

Mile 7: 9:21

Frontierland- almost out of the blackhole that is the Magic Kingdom. And there's Jessie. Oh... Harry loves Jessie (who he also calls Annie). I've got to stop.



Ok, now cross the railroad tracks and take the obligatory blurry photo of the train. Seriously, why don't I ever take the 2 seconds to stop for the train picture?!



Now we're in the float area backstage. Time to get serious. There's a long line for Peter Pan- I don't stop. I'm so proud I barely notice stopping for the Genie picture. Damn! And it's a waterstop and now I'm moving.



Mile 8: 8:42

OK, I printed a pace chart for 1:55. I'm a little over 5 minutes off. I still have a shot at breaking 2 hours. I'm pretty sure it will hurt. We're in the tedious area where they squeeze everyone into one tiny lane of traffic. It's hard to weave in and out. I read a few of the inspirational signs; they just irritate me. I'm pretty sure I'm not smiling as much.

Mile 9: 8:51

I'm feeling the fade. I'm starting to panic about the fact that I've never worn Newton shoes more than 6 miles; I didn't run more than 10 in training; and I'm just growing weary. I decide I'm taking a gel at the next water stop. It may be too late to do me much good, but it will at least be something different to do. I get it out and start squeezing it so it won't be frozen.



Captain Jack was somewhere out in this great wasteland that is the area between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. As a sign of my dedication (desperation?), I don't stop for him.

Mile 10: 9:25

I take the Chocolate Hammer Gel and drink some water. Really wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped, but the novelty of not moving was nice.

Mile 11: 9:00

Getting ugly. I'm looking at the mile marker clocks- it's going to be ridiculously close.

Mile 12: 9:15

So I forgot how bad the overpasses were. First there's this long winding overpass- the kind that makes you joke about g-forces when you're driving. Just keeps going up. Then you go down... great. Then you go up another one. I can see Epcot in the distance. Normally this would be a welcome sight. Not with a time goal.

Mile 13: 8:53

Killer. I tried to up the pace. And I'm proud to say, I did up it. But, alas, not quite enough. We cross through Epcot towards the finish line. The Gospel choir was there (on the left) this year. That was nice. I see the time- 2:00:10. It's not going to happen. I think about stopping right there, but then I thought maybe my chip time would be better and I didn't want to be crushed steps away from the finish. I push through...

FINAL CHIP TIME: 1:59:72.

(Ok, 2:00:12.)

I got my medal and asked the volunteer to take my picture. She had to give my camera to someone else because she couldn't get her glasses on with all the medals around her neck. Then, I remembered I needed a picture for my iPhone. I went up to another volunteer and she couldn't get her glasses on either! What are the odds? I got my picture and staggered off.



I went through the buffet line at the end- bananas, bagels, oranges, raisins, Luna bar samples, pineapple cups, Diet Cokes... grabbed a bag full of stuff. I hope they didn't run out of the Luna bars- the women in front of me were stocking up with huge handfuls. What was that all about? I grabbed a massage for $10.00, rolled off the table and out of the building, and went to the concessions stand to see if the shirts were more appealing without the baby. The shirts were easier to look at, but I was shivering like crazy. I considered buying a jacket, but the $49+ tag seemed silly, so I just headed to the parking lot. For once, I found my car on the first try.

Trouble back at the hotel...



LAST THOUGHTS:

Well, the 12 seconds make me laugh. Do I regret taking pictures? Not really. Taking pictures gave me a few breaks. Who's to say I wouldn't have crumbled around mile 12 had I not taken some extra time? (And yes, the photographers took pictures too, but not with the characters. And no, I don't know what I'm going to do with these pictures since it's just me and the characters, but that's not the point). In theory I can always try to run for time in a more traditional and boring setting, although running as fast as possible in a boring setting is not sounding all that appealing.

There was a guy running with us carrying a tripod. He gets my vote for best support crew EVER. He put together a youtube video that can be found under Princess Half Marathon (make sure it's 2010)- he's friendofvic. First he caught me posing with the Princes/Heroes and then waving after the Magic Kingdom. That's some funny stuff.

And, I'm embarassed to add, I just downloaded the Cupid Shuffle so I'll be ready next year. I'm busting through 2 hours next year... and I'm taking pictures, so I've got a lot of work to do!

Super Dolphin Days 10k

So, it's been awhile.

I took January off for several reasons: recurring PF, novelty of new bike, refusal to face cold temperatures, etc. I bought a new trainer for my bike and moved it into my bedroom. I downloaded two movies for my iPhone from "Sufferfest." It's actual footage from rides/races from either the handlebars or helmet. It's really fun in a horrible kind of way. Somehow not running worked for me- I ended up losing 10 pounds since Christmas, so that made me love my bike. Bikes are still kind of high maintenance for me, but Harry and I did go through the process of taking the front tire on and off and playing with the tube, so I'm feeling a little better about my mechanical skills.

Then someone asked me if I was doing the Princess Half- no, I said, it's too expensive and it won't work in my schedule. Got the idea in my head... yep, I signed up. I then had to deal with the concept of a rapidly approaching half with a base of maybe 4 mile runs. Over three weeks, I did a 6 mile, 9 mile, and 10 mile long run. All went well, even though I completely violated the 10% rule. (When you go from running say 4 miles a week to 25 miles, you're living on the edge).

I also freaked out and bought some Newton shoes. They are supposed to help you land more in your forefoot or midfoot or somewhere... I don't get the technology, but if it will keep me from hurting my heel, I'm all for it. And I got them in pink, cause you know, the Princess is approaching. You're supposed to break them in slowly, or I guess really break yourself into the right way of running in them. I vetoed that idea.

So, not having a clue about my pace strategy for the Princess, I signed up for the Dolphin Days 10k. I really wasn't that worried about the race, but somehow I managed to wake up over and over thinking that either I was late or I'd shown up wearing jeans. Tedious.

I go to the start in a short sleeve shirt, shorts, a light running jacket, and my super sweet pink Newtons (with the bright yellow laces). It's about 39 degrees outside, but I'm not too cold. Apparently it's very trendy to roll out of bed, throw on any old clothes, and stagger to the start. I'm not saying I was looking fabulous, but I felt a little silly in my pink shoes.

The race starts-

Mile 1: I start too far back and have to weave through people. I'm a little worried about going out too fast, but I don't want to get stuck in a pack. I finish the mile in 8:27. That seems a bit too fast, but I'm not hurting.

Mile 2: D'oh! The waterstop isn't manned yet. I don't want the water, but it bothers me. I run on. I'm passing people like crazy- usually this comes back to haunt me. Mile 2 is finished in 8:15.

Mile 3: I'm playing the same songs over and over on my iPhone because I've developed a sudden superstition that they are keeping me fast. I'm still passing people... what's up with that? Mile 3 is 8:15.

Mile 4: I remember reading that if you drink in the last 20 minutes of a 10k, it won't have time to help you. Last year I fell apart after treating the waterstop like a rest area, so I run on through. Mile 4 is 8:19.

Mile 5: How is it possible that I am still passing people? I look up and realize I only see men in front of me. I'm pretty sure I can actually feel these guys I'm passing losing the will to live- the pink shoes could only be worse if I had a running stroller too... Oddly, I still feel good. I keep telling myself to keep landing with my feet under my body to protect my heels and to keep my turn over quick. Emma texts me- "where r u?" Seriously? This mile is 8:30.

Mile 6: Somewhere around here there's another waterstop. Nope, not me. I'm moving on. For the first time since the beginning, I get passed. First there's a rail-thin woman who looks so smooth she should be on the cover of Runners World- I let her go. Then an older guy in running tights- he looks hard core- I let him go too. Finally in the last 1/2 mile, a guy in bright red shoes takes me. I'm ok with it though because I like his shoes (we bright people should stick together) and I suspect I was in high school when he was born. Mile 6 is finished in 8:27.

I finish in a shocking 52:31. I actually don't feel bad. Is it the cross-training? the weight loss? the Newtons? Don't know, but worked for me. I took 6 minutes off last year. Got a little hardware too, and by hardware I mean a little cheapo medal. Second in my age group; 40th out of 130; 7th woman across.

Before I sound too cocky, I have to add that I look dreadful in the pictures. Here I thought my pink shoes were causing the runners I passed to fall apart; but I think it may have been seeing someone as goofy as me pass them. How fast must I go before I can look like a real runner instead of a fast shuffler?!



So, now to decide on pacing for the Princess. If I plug my numbers into running calculators, I could maybe pull off a 1:56:xx half. But, I don't know if I have put in enough long runs. I'd hate to run as fast as I could and blow off the whole Disney experience only to have to walk in the last few miles. I'm thinking of a compromise position-- I'll aim for breaking 2 hours, but I'm going to take a few pictures at the Castle. Unless of course I wake up exhausted from the Disney parks the day before- then I may just take my sweet time.

And of course, I'm wearing my "you really need to take some time to get used to them" Newtons. I haven't gone over 6 miles in them. I'll bring some older shoes too in case I actually come to my senses in time to change my plans, but it's not likely. If I go down, I go down and will have no one but me to blame. I can live with that.

A Tale of Two Races

Harvest Run 5k, Sept. 2009

This race has tormented me in the past.

2007? I fail to notice the "p.m." following the 7:00. I show up in the morning complaining about how crazy early this race was... to find absolutely no one there. Apparently, I was crazy early by about 12 hours. We had plans to go out of town, so no race for me.

2008? The baby was due something like 3 days after the race. I wanted to waddle through it, but I couldn't convince anyone to go with me and was afraid the race organizers would call the paramedics if they saw me alone.

2009? Oh yeah, this is going to be my year! I'd been focusing a little too much on cross-training (as in dropped my run mileage to maybe 10 miles per week), I'd cleaned the whole house all day in anticipation of my mother coming over, and I'd had pizza for dinner. What could go wrong??

So, my entire family abandoned me. Harry, the trash talking three year old who claimed to be prepared to win the 1 mile, fell asleep. Ted and Emma used the babysitting excuse, and my mom said it was going to get dark and she had to hit the road. Not a problem. I drove downtown, found my Garmin which luckily was charged, and got my shirt.

I laughed at my friend Dan who's seven year old totally took him. (If the kid beats you by a few feet, maybe you let him win... if he beats you by a block or two, he just took you. Just saying.) A little girl won the one mile by a landslide- in a pink dress and Crocs. Classic.

I ran my race. Nothing too exciting. The pizza was only mildly threatening, the humidity was horrible, the course was boring,... same drill as always. I finished in 26:06. Not my best, but not bad considering how slack I'd been. I won an age group trophy- too funny!

I talked to my friend Mary after the race. She recommended a good bike shop nearby. I was very proud of how mature I was being in our chat- Mary totally took me (I share your pain, Dan). I was on her heels for about 2 miles but just couldn't hang on. Mary is 20 years older than me, was wearing a knee brace, and had just won her age group in a sprint tri that morning...

Fast Forward two weeks:

Brunswick Stewbilee 5k:

Now here's the problem with signing up ahead of time. I really lost interest in doing this one after my new best friend Fred sold me a bike. That's right-- I've got a BIKE! Anyway, I strapped all the bikes onto my new rack (nightmare!!) and trucked on over to St. Simons. I hadn't run since the last 5k- because I'm fickle, and I'm all about the BIKE.

I head over to the race. Not many people there- it's the same weekend as a tri in St. Simons. The race is for the Boys and Girls Club- they made really cute bibs with colored in numbers. Unfortunately they were on paper- not bib type paper, but real copy machine type paper. Hard to pin on and pretty much disintegrated during the run. Points for cuteness though.

The race started- same boring course they usually do in Brunswick. Nothing too exciting. I finished in 25:59. I was pleased because it was 77 degrees and 100% humidity at the start(yet oddly not raining... hmmm...) Oh, and it was windy. I kept longing for my bike.

OH, how could I forget?! The Frederica Academy cross country team had a big group of kids in the race. Some of them were really fast, but I passed at least 5 kids. Let me repeat, I passed cross country kids. Now I don't know if their coach told them to treat this as the slowest run ever or what, but the ones I passed looked tired. Maybe they were really new to running, but shouldn't a 15 year old cross country kid be able to run circles around me?! Weird.

I skipped the awards. I'd spent a lot of time at the start subtly checking out the ages on the bibs, pre-disintegration. Lots of perky 38 and 39 year old women. I was a little disturbed to see my Garmin showed the course was short- like 2.99 overall. Oh well. I was ready to stop. Oh, and the T-shirt, while cool, was not race-specific. It was a basic Stewbilee shirt- not a bad shirt, but instead of saying "that's right, I ran a 5k this morning" it made me think "let me point you to parking."

I went back and got everyone dressed to hit the Stewbilee. Picture 60 vendors with Brunswick stew and cornbread to sample. Now that's my kind of post-race activity. Burn 50 calories, consume 1000.

Anyway, everyone's in the car... we're maybe two blocks away... and Harry said his "neck hurt." I'm thinking it's nothing. So, without going into too much detail, it was actually something. Nothing like a 3 year old hurling in your car while trapped in one lane of traffic with nowhere to pull over! Obviously, we did not make it to the Stewbilee this year. (Harry was fine within a few hours, but the rest of us were traumatized).

And that's the end of the Tale of Two Races. I think I'm going to continue to cross-train more than just pure running. I may not have actually improved my 5k times, but I seem to have sort of maintained my running fitness. I'm not sure how much further I could go though... I think I've changed my winter run goal from full marathon to half marathon and I've pushed it back to after Christmas. I may just procrastinate away the whole season!

Triathlon? Sure, why not?!

OK, it's been awhile... like 6 months. So, I've been running. I snagged a trophy for 3rd in my age group at the Swamp River Run- Harry was very impressed! I'm thinking there weren't many people in my age group, but I can't be bothered with the details.

I trained like crazy for a 5k this summer- the Fourth of July Sunshine Festival Run. I ran something like 130 miles in June alone. That was pretty horrible. I did ok- a 25:16. It wasn't a PR, but my old PR was set in the winter, pre-baby, during Goofy training, etc. Whatever, I was a little depressed.

Then we decided to go to Disney for Labor Day weekend. I was playing around on the Disney endurance site, and I found a race at our hotel! Obviously, meant to be. One catch- it's a triathlon, so there's a little swimming and biking involved. Hmmm... of course, I signed up.

So I had about five weeks to train- hadn't swum in years (and never really well), and hadn't been on a bike in forever. Oh, and don't own a bike. I managed to overlook the problems I was facing with two-thirds of the race. It's the Trek Womens Triathlon- 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run.

Looking at other sprints, I became really annoyed with the swim length- 1/2 mile is 18 laps (36 lengths) in the Y pool. I could do the distance when I started, but only by resting a lot on the sides and changing strokes constantly. I was a little concerned that there would be no sides for resting in a lake.

Anyway, I did a lot of swimming and started taking spin classes. I was going to use my daughter's bike, but luckily more experienced triathletes steered me away from that idea (nice bike, but a wee bit small!) I rented a hybrid bike instead and tried not to worry about the fact that I wouldn't get a chance to really ride it until the race.

So, we go to Disney on Friday. We do MK Saturday morning. I go to the Expo to get my stuff. There are some seriously intimidating people around me. I'm waiting in line to get my rental bike, and the bike guys are fixing tires/gears/etc on these fancy bikes. I start talking to some of the women around me (to keep from having a complete freak-out!) and they're all really cool. I feel better. I get my bike, and feel even better. It's a Trek 7100- that meant nothing to me, but basically it's shaped like a lighter weight mountain bike with medium tires. It's faster than Emma's bike, but doesn't have drop down handlebars like the cool kids. I putt around, and go put it in my transition area (basically put it on a rack).

The Expo is fun- I got some free moisturizer type stuff and bought one of those Bondi Bands for my hair. I listened to the organizer, Sally Edwards- she was really funny. She made everyone stand up and shout "I am a strong swimmer" while pantomining doing the freestyle, then "I am a strong biker" while pretending to bike, and then the same for the run. Then we had to yell "Yahoo!" while doing a finish line pose. She recommended some goggles that they were selling- being so easy to manipulate, I immediately bought a pair....

Then, off to Epcot with the family- until dark. I end the night spending an hour or so packing and re-packing my stuff. This tri thing is so high maintenance! Did I mention my PF is flaring up from too much walking lugging around my 25 pound baby?? Nice to continue my Disney tradition of starting a race exhausted and limping!:laughing:

THE RACE, finally...

After much drama with Coke machines, I score a Diet Coke and hop on the bus with some other racers. It's about 6:20- my wave was starting at 7:17. I'm so grateful it's not 3 a.m! We head to the transition area. I put my towel down and line up my running shoes and socks, race belt, helmet, and sunglasses. That's basically it. Weird. I put my water bottle in my bike cage. I then face the horror of taking off my t-shirt and facing the world in a lot of lycra. I pop down a quick gel (with my Diet Coke chaser- I'm sure I was getting some looks!) I tuck my swim cap in my shirt like the other cool triathletes (peer pressure!), take my goggles, and head towards the water. (And return to leave my flip flops- d'Oh!) It's really strange walking around barefoot.

I get body marked. They put your number on your arm and thigh and then your age on your calf (but your age at the end of the year-- so I was a year older-- not cool!) I'm officially feeling pretty tough now, with my markings and my skin tight clothes! We head down to the beach. I'm in the sixth wave. I watch the earlier racers. Sally Edwards is there to give everyone a high five. Each wave gets it's own word- when we line up, we find out our word is "Gorgeous." Cracks me up. We go through the "I am a gorgeous swimmer! I am a gorgeous biker! I am a gorgeous runner!" routine. I get my high five, and off I go.

I wade along- the bottom of the lake is sand with a few weeds. The water is nice and warm- I'm incredibly surprised to find that being in a lake doesn't scare me. Maybe the 12 year old in me who swam in lakes at camp came out?! Everyone tells you to start in the back and to the side if you aren't comfortable. I've swum a ton at the Y over the five weeks, but I decided to be conservative and stay far back. Big mistake. Yes, I wasn't trampled, which was good; but, there were so many people in front of me doing crazy things. Within 100 yards people were not just doing backstroke, but doing it so that they cut directly in front of you (as in sideways!) It was an absolute madhouse. You would get past one person, and then there'd be another doing something bizarre in front of you (probably in reaction to someone in front of them!) Then, if that weren't frustrating enough, my very fine goggles with the great peripheral vision started leaking. I was really mad at myself for wearing something brand new- how could I be so stupid!?! Then I decided I'd better just laugh about it...

Finally, the swim came to an end. On the bright side, I wasn't tired- I'd barely been treading water for long sections just watching the chaos! I hopped out and ran over the mat- I'm hoping that picture isn't too horrible, but expecting the worst. I ran all the way to transition- most people were walking, which gave me some confidence since I felt fine.

I did the clothing change and grabbed one swig of water. It took awhile to get out of the transition area- finally we were moving, but slowly in a big crowd. OK, I'm ready for the bike, people!

We take off- the route is somewhere outside the parks- we have to go between traffic cones. I'm hanging to the right while people on fancy bikes are passing me. When the road opens up more, I get up the nerve and start passing people. You yell "On your left!" and blow by. Passing is really fun. Getting passed? Not so fun. The overpasses kind of stunk, but not as much as running them! The worst part- you had to turn around at the base of one of the overpasses, and then haul it up!

I was really, really jealous of the people on the "road bikes" with the skinny tires, drop down handlebars, and clip pedals. I decided not to be annoyed with them passing me- I focused on not being passed by people on bikes like mine who were wearing running shoes instead of biking shoes. I kept up a fairly steady pace until the last mile (I think- why are there no mile markers on the bike part?!) The last mile was on sidewalks and windy paths through the Fort Wilderness resort. I got passed a couple of times on the sidewalk- scary! I got stuck behind a slower woman when we reached the spectators- her family was cheering for her. I decided there was no way I was passing her while they were yelling "Go Mom!" I have my standards.

I hopped off the bike with no trouble, and ran it to the transition area. I was sort of perplexed in the second transition- I took off my helmet, put on my visor and race belt, and grabbed a sip of water. That was all I had to do- I kind of wanted to procrastinate a bit!

I'm realizing as I start running that I'm going into this dehydrated. I was way too scared to drink water on my bike, so I'd basically had maybe 2 ounces of water this whole time. D'Oh! Oh well. I'm also sad that I don't have my iPod. On the bright side, I'm not moving that fast, but I don't feel bad. It's a really boring hot, humid course with two out and backs, but I'm so happy to be on the ground on my own feet. And now, because I'm a much better runner than a swimmer or biker, I'm passing people. That's working for me. I see the finish- I get a high five from Sally, and the next thing I know, I have a medal. (It's not the greatest looking medal- a little subtle for me, but I'm all about giant Disney characters...)

I grab some free SportBeans for the kids and turn in my bike. Back for a shower, and then a full day at Epcot. Anytime anyone says anything about being hot or tired, I immediately say something like "yeah, I can see where you're getting a little tired... you didn't by any chance do a TRIATHLON this morning, did you?!" This cracks me up. I also suffered from a bad case of "race thinking"- at one point I freaked out thinking I'd lost my 3 year old. Ted pointed out that he was actually sitting in the stroller... that I was pushing.

Anyway, it was great fun. I learned a lot and really enjoyed the training. I will definitely keep up the swimming and spin classes. And I want a bike to ride with the kids- so I'll probably get an entry-level road bike just in case another tri just happens to pop up...